Spin the Ironic Bottle of Love
by LitLover 101
Summary: In this humorous series of tales various "crack" ships will be explored. Tale 2: Working in the shadow of his family's horrifying legacy, Roman Sienna develops unexpected feelings as he plays unwanted bodyguard to broody werewolf-in-residence, Rafael Waithe. Rofael One-Shot.
1. Chapter 1

In this humorous series of tales various "crack" ships will be explored. Let's spin that bottle and find out what love story will play out during this round! Chapter 1: Landon and Jo get trapped in a 1930s detective film. Mainly AU/AH. Possible canon past S1 of _Legacies_.

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Legacies**_** that would be the CW, Julie Plec and usual suspects.**

**Hello, my lovely readers. An idea for a one-shot series where I just play with possible pairing sounded like fun. We're beginning with Jandon which may or may not be crack in S2. On with the show…**

Chapter 1: My Girl, Jo

_It all started on a rainy Friday afternoon. _Landon Kirby looked out his window and frowned at the sunny weather conditions. _It was raining. No one had seen rain come down with this much force in years. It felt as if the world were crying out a tortured scream, and then she knocked on my door…_

"Landon!" Jo called, knocking on the door to Landon and Rafael's room.

Landon jumped and rammed his knee into his desk. "Ouch!" he cried, hand going to his knee, and he swiveled his chair around, to face his friend, Jo.

Jo's hair hung down, framing her delicate features, and she offered Landon that smile that lit up her face on any given day. "Hey, Lizzie's working on an idea for the new beginning-of-the-school-year party. I thought you might want to come help."

"Oh?" Landon's brows scrunched together. He'd been hoping that Josie had come to ask him to do something, anything, else. "Yeah. I don't think Lizzie would want me invading her space… Today. Possibly ever." Lizzie Saltzman was not the biggest Landon Kirby supporter. Hell, Landon thought Jed might be more fond of him than Lizzie. "Maybe I can swing by the party…"

Jo looked disappointed, but she nodded, her dark curls bouncing around her face. "Sure. Not a prob. See you later." Turning, Jo left the room.

Sighing, Landon turned back to his computer. _She came in. Her cheeks were reddened from the air, or maybe she felt something just from one look at our famously roughish detective as he chewed on a wad of gum. Whatever it was, there was an instant connection, like the detective had been hit with a bolt of lightning and... _

Head falling on his desk, Landon groaned. After a long moment, he fell back in his seat. _"Detective, I need your help, see it's my sister. She's gone missing—" _

"You know what, I changed my mind. I'm not taking 'No' for an answer." Jo's voice startled Landon and she sat down on his desk. She crossed her legs and smiled at him in a confident manner which reminded him of all the girls who he used to avoid in school because it always ended with his head in a toilet; mainly because of the girl's boyfriend.

"You can close this," Jo tapped the laptop, "because we're going to have some monster-free fun today."

"O-kay." Landon went ahead and saved his work before shutting the laptop off. It's not like he hadn't been in the midst of re-writing every noir story told back in the 1930s. Maybe a day of "fun" would help spark some real artistic energy.

Pushing his chair back, Landon stood up and Jo slid off the desk. In that moment, she was close enough that Landon could smell the sweet fruit gum she'd been chewing nervously on the way through his door. Jo never chewed gum, unless she was seriously stressed out. It reminded her too much of mean girls in teen movies.

Jo inhaled and Landon eyed her lips. They'd known each other for over a year. Her little crush on Raf never really went beyond kissing, so they did not have to have any kind of weird conversation about switching brothers, or some soap opera crap. No drama. Just two good friends who might be falling…

"Jo!" Lizzie's voice startled them.

Landon turned his head, his hand going to his hair. Lizzie's eyes were burning into both Jo and Landon. "I should have known where you were! Only you did not reek of desperation. Well, you probably do now. Occupational hazard of hanging with the riff-raff."

"So good to see you're home, Lizzie," Landon retorted.

Lizzie let out a soundless, sarcastic laugh before turning on her twin. She marched over and tapped a pen against Jo's chest. "You need to go to town to pick up snacks. And balloons. I would say get Frodo to carry some of the packages, but I know the feather-weight anti-champion of the world struggles to carry his own carcass around, maybe you could get Rafael to do it."

Rolling his eyes, Landon shoved his hands into his pockets. "Sorry, to break it to you, but Raf is out with the wolves, being wolf-y. Looks like I'll have to help out. On my own." He watched Lizzie's smug smile turn to a pout before she blew out a breath and consulted her list.

"Whatever." Lizzie grumbled, waving a dismissive hand at them. "Just be back before sundown. Wouldn't want something to drag Landon off into the woods, and for us to realize he bit it, again, because he's dropping ash all over the new carpet."

"Good to know you care," Landon muttered, walking around Lizzie.

A sense of relief took over as Landon and Jo escaped Darth Twin, to make their way downstairs, and out into the bright day. "Alone at last," he sighed with a smile.

Jo nodded and Landon thought he saw a slight flush on her cheeks before Jo headed over to one of the school vehicles. "My dad's letting me drive one of these bad boys, trying to get used to going out to track down the newest threats with my own team," Jo said. "You could join us, on our next run; if you want to." Her eyes widened as she slid behind the wheel.

Hand on the passenger side door handle, Landon blinked, and nodded. "Yes. I would be more than willing and able to. However you want me. Wherever you want me. To do…whatever you need me to do…" Hearing the waves of lameness, Landon shuddered as he slid inside the car. Why did Raf have to make it look so easy? Why couldn't Landon be like his detective, all suave and smooth?

"Are you okay?" Jo asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Me?" Landon forced a quick smile. "I'm cool. Like an icebox." Again, his ability to be cool just melted away in the late summer heat. Better to just sit, silently, trying to be cool, and, oh, radio. "How 'bout some music?" He flipped the dial and when Jo smiled at whatever was coming out, he stopped. Finally, he'd done something right.

The silence continued until Jo inhaled sharply. "Landon, are you seeing this, too?"

"What?" Landon had been falling asleep, but now jerked in his seat, his arms and legs flailing. "I'm awake!" Then his eyes went to the darkness in front of them. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Jo cried. "And the steering wheel. I can't control it!" She lifted her hands to prove her point, her feet coming off the brake and accelerator. "The car: It's driving itself!"

"Well, make it stop!" Landon shouted.

"I can't!" Jo cried, placing her hands above the wheel, and her eyes glowed as she tried to use magic. "Landon?"

And then they were inside the darkness. "What just happened?" Landon asked Jo.

"I don't know," Jo replied.

Frowning, Landon realized they switched seats. "You were driving, right?" he questioned Jo who nodded. "What is with your hair?"

"My hair?" Jo's hands went up to her hair. "I didn't do it like this this morning," she said, turning the mirror, and looking at it with a frown. "Landon…"

"Yeah?" Landon replied, looking out the window.

"We're not in color anymore," Jo said. Head whipping around, Landon blinked at Jo. Yup. She was black, white, and some shades of grey. "Did we just enter…"

"_The_ _Twilight_ _Zone_?" Landon retorted, pushing the door open, and finding himself rounding the car to help Jo out.

"Something like that. Only I think it came out after color TV. I think," Jo tucked a curl behind her ear before taking Landon's hand and stepping out of the car. "Where are we?"

"Looks like Mystic Falls. Only really, really, really old." Landon released Jo's hand and dipped his hand into his trench coat. He found a packet of gum and unwrapped a stick. Folding the gum, he placed it inside his mouth and began to chew with a fury. "Something doesn't feel right, Jo. Maybe we should head back to the office."

"Office?" Jo glanced at Landon and then nodded. "Right, boss."

They looked at each other. Yup. Something was not right here. Not at all.

~0~

Standing inside his office, Landon rubbed his chin, trying to figure out what was wrong here. Then a knock came on the door. Jo went to answer. In came a tall, blonde girl. "Detective Kirby," the girl said. "You have to help me. It's my sister. We were planning a bash for my beau's big-send off. See, he's going to fight the Nazis and I…" the girl began to cry. "Well, my sister. My twin. She just up and disappeared, before she could help me! I need her, detective! Oh, please! Help me find her!" She sobbed quietly into a handkerchief.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Just take a seat. Jo, can you get her some tissues before she makes a real mess of herself?" Landon asked, "What's your name, miss?"

"My name?" the girl cried, sniffling, and staring up at Landon through wide, confused eyes.

"Yes." Landon nodded. He stood up and grabbed a pad and a pencil. "It helps me in finding your sister."

"My name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Saltzman," the girl said, her chin jutting outward.

Jo came in and Landon's head snapped up when she let out a gasp and dropped the tissues to the floor. "Lizzie?"

"Jo!" Elizabeth turned in her seat and began to laugh. She got up and ran to embrace her sister. "Oh, I thought you were eaten by that huge Lizard, who ate that family on Elm Street, last week!" Lizzie pulled back. "Mom and Dad have been so worried about you. You must come home! Now!"

Jo looked to Landon. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I can't! I have real work. And a new pencil skirt. See how it emphasizes my ankles?" Jo pivoted, showing off her ankle to her sister. "But it's not all about fashion. See, Landon doesn't know how to work the coffee maker. And I'm his girl, Jo. He needs me to help with cases."

"I need you for the party," Lizzie retorted, her eyes narrowing. "And…there's a dead body in the attic. Daddy says it smells horribly! Maybe your friend, Detective Kirby can come check it out."

Jo looked to Landon. "We do check in on dead bodies, don't we?"

Landon nodded. "We do, doll. I'll drive."

"Of course you will," Jo said with a smile.

Elizabeth pursed her lips and looked demure as she followed them out the door.

~0~

Arriving at the Saltzman's, Landon had a bad feeling about this one. He looked back at Jo. She stood, arm-in-arm with her sister. Well, if the place was okay by Jo, Landon would just have to be a man, and go on in, even if the place did make him want to take a vacation.

Ringing the bell, Landon waited. Then a man in a pair of spectacles opened the door. "Hello, sir. Detective Kirby. Your daughter tells me you have a body on your premises. May I come in?" Landon tipped his hat to the side.

"Lizzie, you've been telling strangers about our personal problems?"Mr. Saltzman shook his head.

Elizabeth marched up behind Landon. "Daddy, it's MG's party. I can't send him off with that ghastly body just lying around!" She shook her head, her handkerchief at her mouth.

"I know, dear/" Mr. Saltzman shook his head. "Sorry, Detective. The girl's mother is on a trip out-of-country, and she's never here to clean up like she used to."

"Daddy, women have jobs now," Jo said, coming to stand on the other side of Landon.

Mr. Saltzman chewed on the end of his pipe. "It's the end of an era, I tell you, Detective. Men and women used to know their roles. Now these ladies are out in the world, and we have to fend for ourselves. I had to make a meal, all by myself, just yesterday—"

"Daddy, the body!" Jo and Elizabeth cried in unison.

"Right. Right. Come in. It's right up the stairs. Beware of the ladder. It's a tricky thing." Mr. Saltzman said as he moved out of the way for Landon to enter. Jo followed Landon up the stairs, and he pulled down the step-ladder, allowing her to go ahead of him. They were right, that body stunk something awful.

Stepping inside the attic; Landon began to cough. A light went on and Jo let out a cry at the sight of a moldering body…without a head. "I haven't seen something this awful in…in… I've never seen something this awful, Landon, who could have done something like this to this poor man?" Jo asked, her hand over her heart.

"Oh, Jo." Landon walked over and patted Jo on the shoulder. He wished he did not have to be so close to the horrific body, but he was a man, and a man did not allow his heaving stomach to stop him from doing his job. "We'll find the killer and bring him to justice." He looked for clues. "Why couldn't it just be a regular girl who wanted to kill her fiancé for money?" he muttered. Then it dawned on him. What if it were Jo's sister?

Jo looked worried, too. A line formed between her brows as she bent down to examine the headless body with a look of disgust. "It's not a clean kill, Landon. Looks like maybe someone…I'm not sure…could that be a bite? Do you believe it could have been the Lizard thing, again?"

"Lizard?" Landon rubbed his chin. "Could be, Jo. Good idea. Let's go talk to your dad." Honestly, he just wanted to get away from the stinking corpse. Where was the head, anyway?

Shaking his own head, Landon moved toward the step-ladder. "Jo…" his last thought fled his mind when he caught sight of the head, in the corner of the attic. His foot moved forward and then he flew downstairs. Unfortunately Jo had already been on the ladder.

Now, Landon blinked at Jo. "Jo, you okay, sweetheart?" he inquired as she gasped out air. Apparently his falling on top of her had knocked the wind out his girl.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" Jo asked, her fingers digging into his arms. Her legs were sprawled around him and Landon felt a little too comfortable in this position.

"I told you to watch the ladder." Mr. Saltzman's voice reminded Landon that they were not alone.

Landon pushed himself to his feet and pulled Jo to her own. Elizabeth gave them a suspicious look. "Looks like it wasn't a problem," she said, her voice clipped.

Turning his back on Elizabeth; Landon faced Mr. Saltzman. "Do you remember when you noticed the smell?"

Mr. Saltzman tapped his pipe before speaking. "Yes. It was just a day ago. That's why I sent Elizabeth out to look for Josette. I didn't want my girls to have to be in a house with a dead man."

"Good thinking," Landon said, chewing his gum, his hands on his hips. "Do you recall any kind of odd things about the house?"

"Possibly mice…" Mr. Saltzman shrugged. "And the murders, on Elm Street. That Lizard…" He shook a fist. "Bringing the whole neighborhood down. Think of the value of our house now."

"Oh, Daddy." Elizabeth went to place her head on her father's shoulder.

Landon tipped his hat back. "Jo, we should talk to the neighbors; see what they know." He moved toward the front door. The smell permeated the house like a bad cheese. He wanted to get away from it, now!

Like no one wanted him to leave, a noise came from the basement. "What was that?" Elizabeth cried, her hand to her heart, her eyes wide.

"Something's down there! Landon!" Jo cried, moving toward the door.

"Jo, don't go down there!" Elizabeth cried. Their father holding Elizabeth back.

Jo shook her head. "Landon?"

Landon inhaled, wrinkling his nose, and then wished he hadn't when he began choking on his gum. Gaining control of himself, he said, "You're right, Jo. We should investigate." Because men went in and looked for the things that were probably not mice, given how big that crashing sound was.

Landon eased Jo behind him, forced himself to be brave, and opened the door. And, for the second time, he found himself on top of his brave assistant who blinked up at him. The sound of a scream broke into the swelling of a romantic soundtrack, playing in the background.

"Get it off of me!" Elizabeth screamed. She thrashed beneath the monster on top of her.

"Lizzie?" the monster cried and suddenly backed off. "Honey?"

"Milton?" Lizzie cried, sitting up and gaping at her beau. "You're the Lizard!"

"No…" Milton shook his head. "I'm a vampire."

"He's a what?" Mr. Saltzman's pipe was on the floor.

Landon jumped up and ran over to stamp out the burning ashes because he did not know what to do to stop a vampire, but he did know how to stop a house fire. "You're the one who took that fella's head off?" Landon hooked a thumb upstairs.

MG nodded, looking ashamed. "I didn't mean to. I was hungry."

"I thought you were staying with family," Elizabeth said, standing up, and smoothing her skirt out.

MG shrugged. "Your mom told me to."

"My mother?" Jo jumped in.

"She turned me," MG told them. "I got sick. With a flu."

"Oh, my," Elizabeth placed a hand to her chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Milton, I thought you were going to join the army."

"I will. I'll fight the Nazis still," Milton puffed out his chest.

"You'll bite their heads off," Mr. Saltzman said, raising a fist. "For home and glory."

"Yeah." Landon shook his head. "Well, then. I suggest you find a place to dump that body. And don't go eating anyone else now. It was very nice to meet you all. Good-bye."

"Oh, but Detective. The party. You simply must come." Elizabeth beamed at him. "You found my sister, and my beau."

"Party… In this den of the dead?" Landon let out a hoarse chuckle. "You're kidding?"

Elizabeth looked worried. Then she smiled. "I know. We can host it at your office, can't we?"

Landon shook his head. "Not a place your people would want to be."

"Just this once," Jo said.

Eyeing Jo, Landon shrugged. "You're cleaning up, kid."

Jo smiled. "We'll see you soon, sister." Kissing Elizabeth on the cheek, Jo left the house, with Landon hot on her heels.

Landon got back behind the wheel. "We make one hell of a team, Josie Saltzman."

"Thank you, Detective Kirby," Jo said. She took his hat off, and placed it on her own head, grinning at him.

Turning back, to face the road Landon blinked at the sight of color. "Look, we're not stuck in a Sam Spade flick!" he cried happily.

"We're back!" Jo cried, grabbing his arm. "Eyes on the road, Landon."

Feeling better, Landon drove them back to the school, and they got out. The sun was beginning to set and Landon looked at Jo in the early sunset as the orange and red lit up her hair. She tugged at her lower lip, her head tipping to the side.

"God, where have you two been! Where are the snacks! Where did that fedora come from! And you can't wear it tonight! This isn't Halloween!" Lizzie snarled out in a babble of words. Her hands went up in the air. "Fine. I will go and get the snacks! Just go help MG! He's putting the wrong lights up, again!"

Chuckling, Landon looked back at Jo. "So…"

"So…" Jo replied.

Landon nodded at the school. "Guess we should head in then…"

"We should," Jo said. Then she adjusted the fedora to a jaunty angle and threw her arms around Landon's neck. His brows went up as she kissed him on the lips.

"Wow," Landon muttered after Jo pulled away.

Jo grinned. "Yeah."

"I hope that isn't the last kiss we share," Landon said, taking Jo's hand.

"I hope so, too," Jo said, squeezing his hand.

Landon paused before they went in. "You don't think Lizzie will get trapped in the film, do you?"

"No," Jo shook her head. They went inside.

Seconds later, they came back out. "But it never hurts to check," Jo said, and Landon tossed her the car keys.

**Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing. **

**Peace,**

**-J**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: Working in the shadow of his family's horrifying legacy, Roman Sienna develops unexpected feelings as he plays unwanted bodyguard to broody werewolf-in-residence, Rafael Waithe. Rofael One-Shot.**

**Hello, my lovely readers. The bottle has spun, landing on an unexpected pairing of Roman and Rafael. On with the show…**

Chapter 2: The Bodyguard

Lonely. Roman Sienna knew what it was like to be lonely. He'd learned to travel light. To live by his wits. To not trust other people. Other people who were not his sister, Antoinette—but that was another story, involving Nazi-vampires, and a horrible mistake that would haunt Roman 'til the day someone plunged a stake into his undead heart. And until that day, he had a lot to make up for…

When Roman returned to Mystic Falls, he found some things were off. For one thing, he had this sneaking suspicion that some part of his memory was missing when he almost got his head hacked off by a pretty girl with wide eyes and a haunted look on her face.

"Hi," Roman breathed, grabbing the axe before it could connect with his neck.

"Roman?" the girl huffed out, her chest heaving, and she shook her head.

Roman felt more shocked than the girl. "Who are you?" he asked.

Some goo came spitting out of a monster and the girl ran off to hack and slash it to death. This left Roman with a whole lot of questions, but not much in the way of answers.

Later, he found himself, back in the woods behind the boarding school. He'd been looking for the mystery girl when he ran into a large, angry-looking black wolf. The wolf's lips pulled back from its teeth and it let out a snarl.

"Shit," Roman groaned. He so did not feel like being bitten today. "Okay, good boy. I am not going to hurt you, unless you try to bite me. So, please, do not make me."

The wolf let out another low snarl before it leapt on Roman, opening its massive jaws to take a big bite out of Roman's neck when it peered into his eyes. Suddenly the beast leapt over Roman and went bounding off.

"So weird," Roman breathed.

"It stopped because it knows you," the girl from before told him.

Roman rolled onto his knees and then got to his feet. "Well, that's more than I can say for you and me. Or me, and whoever that was." He nodded in the direction his new "friend" ran off in. "How do you know my name?"

"Long story. Short version. I hopped into a hell dimension, trying to save the world, and be really cool. Turns out, it didn't work. I'm Hope. Hope Mikaelson." The girl offered, with a half-smile, her eyes lighting up. "And that wolf, that's Rafael Waithe. He's a friend of mine. If you can help me catch him. I can remove his ring, and he'll be on two feet before we know it."

"Sure…" Roman felt uncertain. If this was Hope Mikaelson…that meant he helped get her mom killed. Did she know about that? If they knew each other; why didn't he remember her? Oh, right. Hell dimension. "Malivore?" Roman blurted, looking to Hope.

Hope nodded. That same, sad smile on her face. "Yup. Ugly goo from hell. I rate it as a zero on a list of vacay destinations."

"Huh," Roman's focus was split when he heard a branch crack, somewhere close to them.

Hope seemed to hear it, too. Her head spun in that direction, and she waved for Roman to go to the left, while she circled on the right.

Speeding off, Roman caught sight of the wolf tracking a rabbit. Roman moved forward and sent the rabbit running. The wolf let out an irritable snarl, its eyes glowing. "Grab him! Now!" Hope shouted. Hoping that the wolf did not bite him, Roman caught hold of the wolf by its legs, holding it, and wondered if this is what a human felt when they were on the back of a bull as Rafael bucked and howled. Thankfully, the other wolves were not out today.

Hope said some things in Latin while Roman held onto their friend, and Rafael fell to the ground, groaning as bones snapped back, creating a human form, and Rafael was just a teenage boy. A very naked teenage boy.

Hope let out a snort and turned her back on the boy. Roman inhaled and looked at the fall skyline. They trees were pretty this time of year.

"Clothes. Clothes would have been nice," Rafael snapped, and there was the sound of leaves being crunched under foot.

"I knew I forgot something," Hope said. "Sorry." She still had her back turned.

"It's okay." Roman said.

"No. It's really not," Rafael retorted. He had his hands on his hips when Roman turned back to face him. "You want to go back to school naked?"

"Like anyone would complain. Except for Landon. Who so does not remember me. Not that you do either." Hope began to babble.

"Yeah. I do," Rafael said.

"You do?" Hope cried, spinning around, and then let out a cry of shock. "Shit. Clothes. Sorry." She slapped a hand over her eyes.

Roman chuckled. "You know what helps in situations like this?"

"What?" Rafael and Hope asked.

"Having a vamp for a friend. See, I don't get cold, so I just wear things like jackets to mix in." Slipping out of his jacket, Roman threw it to Rafael. "And I can do without these. Although I would like them back." Undoing his belt, Roman slid out of his pants and tossed them to Rafael. "We should wear about the same size." He tried not to eye Rafael too long. No need to make this any more awkward.

"Are you good?" Hope called out.

"I've got pants on," Rafael told her.

"Great." Hope dropped her hand. "Okay. Now, how do you remember me?"

Nodding his head, Roman hooked a thumb. "This feels personal. I'm going to go."

"Thanks, man," Rafael said with a quick nod.

"Any time." Roman offered a wave before he sped off.

~0~

Even though the plan was to only drop by the school once in a while, Roman found himself dropping by every month, and then every couple of weeks, and then trying to figure out whether he could just come back. And there was one reason. A reason that left his belly a little tighter and his mind questioning what the hell he was thinking.

~0~

"You okay?" Roman called out.

Rafael had just come back from wolfing-out in the woods and looked a little moodier than usual. Which said a lot considering Rafael had resting brood-face.

"Fine. Just fine." Rafael grunted, moving toward the school. His expression told the world to leave him the hell alone.

Unfortunately, Roman could not seem to answer that demand. "You want to talk?"

"Nope." Rafael kept going.

"It is about the wolves?" Roman queried.

Stopping mid-step, Raf turned on his heel, and then moved to stand an inch from Roman's face. "Why can't you just back off, man? We're not friends. We're not family. You just show up, and get in my way. So… Just back the hell off!" With a look of utter disgust; Raf stormed off.

It looked like Roman had found a reason to leave Mystic Falls, again.

~0~

Roman lost himself in his work tracking down new threats to the school. Then one day Caroline called and asked him to return to the school with a newly-turned vamp girl named Renee.

The girl's feet beat against the van floor as Roman drove them through the familiar gates of the school. "You'll be fine. I promise." He offered Renee a quick smile.

Renee brushed her black curls behind her ear. "_Oui_." And, with luck, someone would take her under their wing, and help her with her English. Or their French would improve.

They got out of the van and headed toward the front door. Lizzie Saltzman was waiting with a wide smile. "_Bonjour_, Renee. Welcome to our school." She hooked an arm through one of the new girl's arms. Roman headed in behind them, tuning out Lizzie's version of what to-do and not to-do. He'd heard it all before.

Eyes moving down the hallway; Roman caught sight of Rafael. A group of vamps were saying something to Rafael before one of the vamps raised a hand and his group left.

Hope appeared. "Are you alright?" she asked Rafael.

"I'm fine, Hope. Thanks. You should go. Landon probably needs help with the glamour." Rafael mumbled before he moved past Hope.

Hope caught Roman looking and she headed toward him. "Hey, you."

Their relationship had become a little less awkward—maybe because Roman's feelings for her were easier to manage—for some reason that Roman had yet to deal with.

"Hey. Is he okay?" Roman tipped his head toward where Raf had gone.

Sighing, Hope shook her head. "He's been struggling. With the wolves. With the vamps. Probably with the witches. I don't think he ever adjusted from his wolf state. And I don't want to try another spell. I could make it worse. Again." She rolled her eyes.

Roman nodded. "Well, find me if you need me."

Hope nodded and left.

Inhaling, Roman made his way down the hallway. He knew exactly where he was going. The vampire he was looking for stood in a room, by himself, smoking something that definitely was not a cigarette. "Roman Sienna. What dragged your sorry ass home, brother?" He laughed through a cloud of smoke.

Roman grinned. "Looking for you, jackass," he said. His fingers wound into the younger vampire's shirt collar. He lifted the taller boy off the floor. "You're going to tell the vamps, to lay off of Rafael Waithe. Got me? Or do I need to make myself clearer?" His eyes darkened and his fangs sprang out.

"What's it to you what we do to some fur-bag?" Thomas Scaggs, vampire-douche-of-the-year hissed back, his own fangs popping out. He struggled in Roman's grip. "Gonna kill me over him? Huh? Pretty funny. Given who your mommy and daddy were? They'd be so proud."

Roman almost lost him temper. "The killings stopped with my mother. But you will leave him be. Or there will be an end you will not see coming." Dropping Thomas to his feet, Roman grinned. "There are things much worse than death."

Feeling better, Roman left the room. He could not do anything to stop the wolves, or the witches, but he could make a small difference in his own community.

~0~

"The sword!" Landon was shouting, while choking as the giant-hairy thing held him with one hand, the other hand held a choking Lizzie while Josie laid on the ground, unconscious. Hope fought with another hairy beast. Alaric had just turned a blowtorch on a third.

Roman was not part of this mission. He'd been…well, stalking Rafael. And he'd been watching from the sidelines while Team Mystic Falls got their asses handed to them.

Maya picked up the sword and tossed it to Rafael. The human girl was panting and suffering from a head wound as she bent over Josie, her eyes narrowed.

Rafael took the sword and plunged it through the hairy beast that had ahold of his brother. "Other way around!" Hope cried before the hairy beast who held her tossed her into a tree, and she grunted, "Ow."

Rafael's eyes widened as Hairy Number Two came lumbering toward him. Roman leapt on the thing's back and wrapped his arms around its neck. It reached for Roman's arms but Roman poked it in the eye with his fingers, and it wobbled, screaming monster profanity.

"Sword!" Landon shouted.

Rafael snapped out of it, and jerked the sword back out, stabbed the monster who had his brother before removing it, and threw it to Hope. Roman held on for all he was worth as Hope sent the sword flying into the heart of the monster he held onto.

The monster fell face forward and Roman went flying. His trajectory sent him into Rafael and they rolled before Rafael landed on top and Maya smirked. "Cute. Very cute. Now, which one of you is going to help get my girl back to safety?" She bellowed, pointing at Josie.

Looking at Rafael, Roman managed to not say something stupid. The werewolf got up and held out a hand. "Looks like there's a damsel in distress," Raf quipped. He let go of Roman's hand and went to help Maya with Jo.

Hope caught Roman's eyes and her brows went up. Ducking his head; Roman wandered away.

~0~

"Would you stop following me!" Rafael demanded.

"You're hurt," Roman countered.

Rolling his eyes, Rafael chuckled. "Little venomous spit. I can handle it. Hope's got some kind of miracle cream. Or something. I'll be good in a couple of hours."

Roman moved in front of Raf. "You don't have to tough everything out, you know. For one thing, you're not that tough."

"Says who? Landon? I'll kick his ass." Rafael shook his head. "No. I won't."

"See. Wimp! Landon can take care of himself. Or Phoenix his way into being okay. You don't need to take care of him all the time. And Hope can take of herself. She doesn't need you to be her Oz-Xander all the time." Roman watched Raf's brows rise.

"You're watching Buffy, again, without me?" Raf cracked the rare grin.

Shrugging, Roman moved to walk beside Raf. "Yeah. Jo was feeling down since Maya and her family might be moving away. You know, after the whole Hope-nearly-eating-Ethan-thing. Thought it would be MG. And then there's the Sebastian drama. Would someone, please, tell Lizzie to find a new type of boyfriend, who is not going to try to kill us all?"

Rafael began to smile in a way that made Roman feel all kinds of feelings he wanted to bury. He just didn't think anything like this would end well. And, again, Lizzie and Sebastian, and they're whole our-love-will-literally-set-the-world-on-fire thing made the whole intermixing of species worry Roman. Then again, he now felt like he sounded like his parents…

"You okay?" Rafael asked.

Roman stopped. "Yeah. Just thinking about the past..."

"Live for now." Rafael's words made Roman's eyes widen. "This moment. You don't know. We could be eaten by some kind of oozy bug tomorrow."

"This very minute?" Roman asked. Rafael nodded. Before he could stop himself, Roman grabbed Rafael, and kissed him. Seconds later, he parted from the other boy. "I'm so sorry. I should have made sure that was okay. I didn't mean to, like, violate you, or –"

Words stopped when Raf's lips crashed against Roman's. "Never mind." Roman muttered, minutes later. "Are you sure? I mean. I thought you were still hung up on Hope. Like everyone we've ever met…"

Rafael pulled back. "Yeah. I think I'm kinda of gay. I think. Maybe. Or you're just so annoying I really wanted you to shut up, and that seemed to do the trick." His eyes were sparkling. His guard was down.

Heart beating like it never beat for anyone since he died or when he lived; Roman took Rafael's hand. "This is going to be hard."

"Yeah. For both of us." Rafael nodded, but he looked pleased. "I can deal with hard. Hard is kind of what I'm known for. Besides, I have a smoking-hot bodyguard."

Smirking, Roman shook his head. "The boarding school is not going to be ready for this."

"Screw them." Rafael said.

~0~

"Wow!" Hope said.

"Really?" Jed snarled, his upper curling.

"That kind of makes sense," Lizzie said, nodding her approval. "Two hot guys walk into a room dot, dot, dot…"

"Finally," Landon said, shaking his head. "I was going to lose it if you didn't just admit it."

Josie came in with a cake she and Maya carried to the dining room table. "Welcome," they said before Josie lit the cake.

Kaleb and MG also did not look shocked. Kym rolled her eyes. "Please, I knew you two were chasing in and out of each other's rooms all last week. Can't keep a secret to save the school." Apparently vampirism did not cool her will to lay it all out there.

Sebastian came sweeping into the room with a blood-bag and MG groaned. "What is he doing here?"

"It's a party, love," Sebastian said, throwing an arm around Lizzie, who seemed happy. Even though Sebastian was not supposed to be allowed in the boarding school or around the boarding school, without a silent alarm going off.

Alaric came into the room. "What's going on! Sebastian! Get out!"

"Raf's gay," Landon blurted.

Roman watched Alaric turn to look at Roman and Raf. They were holding hands. Ric rolled his eyes. "I know. Penelope told me."

"Penelope?" Jo's mouth dropped open.

"In my office –" Alaric barely got out before Jo ran off. Maya scowled and crossed her arms. "Rafael, congrats. Sebastian, get out," Alaric snapped.

Roman turned to Raf. "Well, it looks like we're not the biggest news to hit the school this year."

Then something exploded and the building shook.

"That's literally!" Hope cried, leaping up from the table, and running out of the room. MG, right behind her. Lizzie and Sebastian went after Hope.

Alaric went after them. "We're not done here, young lady!"

Landon grinned. "Sorry. Got to go fight evil." He hurried away. Kym got up and stalked after him. Jed marched off, too.

Kaleb set his feet on the table. "I'm going nowhere. Not while there's this cake." He took a plate and Roman and Rafael rounded the table to pull the protesting vampire to his feet. "Hey! No, Jo took a long time making this scrumptious work-of-art! We can't just leave it laying around for the kids!" Kaleb protested, reaching for said work-of-art.

Roman shook his head. "Duty calls."

"Monsters. There's always monsters to slay," Rafael said. His forced look of gloom had a smile attached to it. And Roman felt happy, because he now had someone to help him fill the lonely hours.

**Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing. **

**Peace,**

**-J**


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